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“Yikes! What a Way To
Go...New York City's Travel Experience
By Miriam Medina
Part I
New York City's Travel Experience
1642-1820
Researched and Compiled by Miriam Medina
1 6 4 2
"The First Ferry between New York and
Brooklyn, or New Amsterdam and Breukelen, as the two places
were then called, was established in the year 1642, by
Cornelius Dircksen, who owned a farm and kept a country inn
near where Peck Slip now is. He came at the sound of a horn
that hung against a tree, and ferried the waiting passengers
across the river in his little skiff for the moderate charge
of three stivers in waumpum. Rowboats, canoes, and other
small craft were used at first; later flat-bottom boats for
the accommodation of passengers and cattle were propelled by
sail. The ferry became a source of
revenue to the city over the river as far back as 1658. (1)
1 6 4 7
In 1647 Stuyvesant's council recommended the
construction of a small wharf, and in the next year the
first pier in New Amsterdam was erected on the East River at
Schreyer's Hook. A second and larger pier, called the
"Bridge," was built in 1659 near the foot of the present
Moore Street. (43)
1 6 5 3
It is recorded that "on the 10th of October,
1653, an ordinance was passed by the government of New
Amsterdam, regulating the rates of ferriage at three stivers
each for foot passengers, except Indians, who paid six,
unless there were two or more." As the Indians were charged
more than the pale faces, it is likely that they ferried
themselves over when possible, and that thus originated the
saying, "Paddle your own canoe." (1)
1 6 5 4
In 1654 the shore, from the Stadt Huys to
the "corner of the ditch" (De Heere Gracht), was planked up
and filled in with earth and rubbish probably the first land
fill made for the improvement of city's waterfront.(43)
1 6 6 1
Ferry service, on the western side of
Manhattan, across the Hudson to Jersey City, was begun in
1661 by another Dutchman, William Jansen. If the traveler
were in a hurry, Jansen carried extra oars so he could row
too, but with no discount in price. (38)
1 6 6 7
There was a Harlem River ferry in 1667.
(43)
1 6 7 8
The city had three ships, seven sloops, and
eight small boats.(43)
1 6 9 3
The first bridge over the Harlem River was
built under a franchise for 99 years, granted in June, 1693,
to Fredryck Flypsen or Philipse, to build and maintain at
his own expense a bridge over the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and
to collect certain "easy and reasonable tolls" from such
passengers as might cross it. The bridge was to be
twenty-four feet wide and provided with a draw of sufficient
size to permit the passage of small craft. It was further
stipulated that it should be free for the passage of the
King's forces, and should be called King's Bridge. This
bridge was built during the same year, a little to the east
of the site of the present structure which bears the same
name. It remained in the hands of Philipse's descendants
down to Revolutionary times, when it was forfeited to the
State on account of the adherence of the family to the
English Crown. (20)
1 6 9 4
The city had sixty ships, sixty-two sloops,
and forty boats.(43)
1 7 1 3
The South Ferry Stapleton (Staten island)
run did not open until 1713, but there is a clear record of
a rowboat service to New Jersey, soon to be supplanted by
horsepower (using windlass and sweeps), that began in 1661,
crossing the Hudson squarely at South Ferry.(43)
1 7 1 7
In 1717 two ferries were provided to
run from the old Long island landing, viz., the Nassau
Ferry, carrying cattle, goods and passengers to the above
mentioned three New York slips, and the New York Ferry,
carrying only goods and passengers to Hanover Square and
Coentis Slip. (39)
1 7 2 8
In 1728 shipyards occupied the river front
between Beekman Street and Catherine Street, then the
northern limits of the city, and in 1740 there were three
shipyards in the neighborhood of Dover Street, and this was
called the "shipyards district."
1 7 3 2
The first New York stage was started in the
year 1732, to run between New York City and Boston. The
journey took 14 days.(2)
1 7 4 0
The Fulton Ferry in 1740 (click
twice)
1 7 4 6
Foot of Wall Street and Ferry-house, 1746. (picture)
(click twice)
1 7 5 9
About 1759 public opinion became so strongly
aroused against the payment of tolls that a second bridge,
called the Free Bridge was built by public subscription at
or near the site of the present farmer's or Fordham Bridge.
This diverted all the travel from the old structure and the
obnoxious tolls were finally suspended. (20)
1 7 7 4
In 1774 three ferries were established with
landings in New York at Coentis Slip, Fly Market and Peck
Slip. On the Long island shore were two landings provided,
the one at the original landing place and another at the Red
Mills, at the foot of later Atlantic Street. (39)
1 7 7 5
The Hoboken ferry was first opened with
sailboats and rowboats in 1775, and was run with varying
success by several owners until after the close of the
Revolutionary War. John Stevens first came into possession
of the lease of this ferry to Vesey street, New York, now
Barclay street ferry in 1789, but retained it only for about
two years. The lease of the ferry then passed to other
hands, and in 1808, David Goodwin secured the lease of the
ferry, and in 18111 John Stevens was the proprietor. He now
built a steam ferry-boat, named the "Juliana," and this
David Goodwin appears for a time to have had the control of
the vessel while running on the ferry, though the lease was
to John Stevens. (37)
1 7 8 6
"In 1786, the Legislature granted to Isaac
Van Wyck, Talmage Hall, and John Kenny, all Columbia County
men, the exclusive right "to erect, set up and carry on, and
drive stage wagons between New York and Albany on the east
side of the river, for a period of ten years, forbidding all
opposition to them under penalty of two hundred pounds.
Notwithstanding the traffic, the roads were bad, the stages
were uncomfortable, and the trip fatiguing, as the
passengers were routed up about three or four o'clock in the
morning and traveled until nine, or later, at night, putting
up at poor and ill-kept inns. The stages originally started
from Cortlandt Street, but later from Broadway and
Twenty-third Street; the route, of course, was over the
Boston Road from that point to Kingsbridge. The distance was
159 miles. Every one who could do so traveled on horseback,
as the stage was not of the kind we read of in Dickens. The
steamboat and the railroad sealed the doom of the old
stages. (3)
1 7 9 2
The first hack started in New York in the
year 1792, by Gabriel W. Alston. There were about 200 at the
time in New York. For a carriage to Harlem, and back, three
hours the price was $4; to King's Bridge, all day was $5.
The price per day for a hack, driven in any direction was
$5. The penalty for a hackney coachman demanding more than
the legal rates, is the forfeiture of his whole fare, and a
fine of $10. (2)
1 7 9 5
A) The next bridge was built at Third Avenue by
J.B. Coles, in 1795 to 1797. He was at first reimbursed by
tolls collected from the passengers over it. This bridge
remained in use until 1855 or 1858 when it was torn down to
give place to the bridge which has just been removed. The
latter was completed and opened to the public in 1867. It
was very low, being only 13.2 feet in the clear above high
water, with an opening on each side of the centre pier of 82
feet. (20)
B) The Catharine ferry was first established
in 1795. To distinguish it from the "Old" or Fulton ferry,
it was called the "New Ferry," and ran from what was then
called "New Ferry street," in Brooklyn, to the foot of
Catharine street. This ferry was leased to Rodman Bowne,
1811, and continued to him and his brother by renewals until
1852, when the ferry was purchased by Cyrus P. Smith and
William F. Buckley, who obtained a renewal of the lease for
ten years (1853 to 1863). (37)
C) In 1795 the New Ferry was established,
running between the Olympia settlement, now Main Street,
Brooklyn, and Catherine Street, New York City. (39)
1 7 9 8
A) The first stage that ran merely on the
island, was started, in the year 1798, by Barnard de Klyne.
He ran from Wall Street To Greenwich or "the village" which
was then separate from the settlements on the south part of
the island.(2)
B) As far back as 1798, Chancellor Robert R.
Livingston had received from the Legislature, as the
discoverer of the new power of steam navigation, the
exclusive right to use this power in all the waters within
the limits of the State for twenty years, provided that
within twelve months he should produce a boat, the average
speed of which should not be less than four miles an hour.
This he failed to do; and the grant remained in abeyance
until 1803, when having made the acquaintance of Robert
Fulton, in France, and aided him in some encouraging
experiments, he obtained a renewal of the monopoly for the
twenty years ensuing, on the condition that he and
Fulton, his partner in the grant, should fulfill the
required conditions, within the space of two years. Fulton
enjoyed his triumphs, reaching the place of his destination
in thirty-two hours, and secured the monopoly of steam
navigation over the waters of new York. The Nassau commenced
running on May 10, 1814. (1)
1 8 0 0
A) In the year 1800, merchants residing a
hundred miles, or more, from New York, and distant from the
North River ten or fifteen miles, sent their bed and bedding
to the landing from which they were to sail for the city, by
a team, and themselves followed on horseback. At the
landing, their bed, &c., was placed on board the sloop that
conveyed their produce to market, and by it they took
passage for the city. Such was the convenience of traveling
at that day.(4)
B) About the year 1800 there were two
ferries to Brooklyn, one from Fly Market Slip, near the foot
of maiden Lane, and the other from Catherine Slip. (1)
1 8 0 1
A) It was in the year 1801 that the first
public horse-drawn vehicle was run wholly within New York
City to accommodate paid passenger travel, and the crudest
kind of method and animal propulsion was used to carry the
public then numbering on Manhattan about 60,000 people over
a limited area, traveling leisurely around. (33)
B) The first public vehicles mentioned as
having been run in 1801 in New York City were the bus
lines running from Bull's Head (near 26th street and Third
avenue) to Manhattanville and Harlem. (33)
1 8 0 3
In 1803 the Old Ferry, or Fly Market Ferry,
and the New Ferry, or Catherine Street Ferry, were the only
two ferries running. The Old Ferry operated then two kinds
of boats; the barges, rowed by four men each and holding
eight or ten persons, and the sailboats, with deep bottoms.
These had no regular steersman and the first passenger to
arrive took the helm; horses and wagons were in the bottom
of the sailboat, exposed to all kinds of weather, like the
passengers. (39)
1 8 0 5
The rent of the Middle, or "Old" ferry, from
foot of the present Fulton street, in Brooklyn, to the Fly
Market Slip, was $3,050 in 1805, but in May, 1811, it was
leased to Theodosius Hunt and Losee Van Nostrand, for three
years, at a rental of $3,450 per annum. The same year the
"New Ferry" (Catharine street), was leased for five years,
at $1,275 per annum. (37)
1 8 0 6
In November, 1806, five gentlemen associated
themselves together, for the purpose "of rendering the
passage between Hudson and New York by water more
expeditious, convenient, and pleasant to ladies and
gentlemen traveling North and South through the State of New
York, as well as to promote the interest of those concerned"
by building a packet of one hundred and ten tons burthen,
for the purpose of carrying passengers only. To accomplish
this object, they bound themselves to each other to
furnish the sum of six thousand dollars. In accordance with
this agreement, the superior packet sloop Experiment was
built, and superbly fitted up with state-rooms and berths,
her whole length below deck for the accommodation of
passengers, and performed the passage between New York and
Hudson in an unprecedented short space of time. (4)
1 8 0 7
Sloop Experiment, Laban Paddock master, for
the accommodation of passengers on the North River, will
sail from Hudson every Wednesday morning at ten o'clock, and
from New York every Saturday evening, at six o'clock. And
the sloop Experiment, Elihu S. Bunker, master, for the same
purpose will sail from Hudson every Sunday morning, at nine
o'clock, and from New York every Wednesday evening, at five
o'clock, throughout the season. (4)
1 8 0 9
The Brooklyn, Jamaica and Flatbush Turnpike
Company was incorporated on March 17th, 1809, and laid its
turnpike upon the two main branches of the Kings Highway.
Both were old Dutch roads, having originally been
constructed by the Dutch authorities along the Indian
trails.(39)
UNTIL THE YEAR 1810 row boats or
pirogues were the only ferryboats upon the rivers. Next came
the horse boats__twin boats with the wheel in the centre,
propelled by a sort of horizontal treadmill worked by
horses, the first of which was introduced on the 3d of
April, 1814, upon the Catharine street ferry. This was a
boat of eight horse power, crossing the river in from twelve
to twenty minutes. (1)
1 8 1 4
A) The first steam ferry-boat on the East
River was the "Nassau," another one of Fulton's construction
hitch was put on the Fulton Ferry, May 10, 1814. It carried
as many as 550 passengers, four horses and four vehicles
were carried at one time. The Nassau was very popular and
was often used during the evening for moonlight excursions. (1)
B) In 1800, wealthy landowner Alexander
Macomb purchased a large amount of land along the eastern
bank of the Harlem River in what was then part of
Westchester County. Across the Harlem River in Manhattan,
Macomb constructed a four-story, tidal-powered grist mill.
To connect his land to the grist mill, and to provide
additional power for his grist mill, Macomb proposed a dam
and bridge, between Bussing's Point on the western bank to
Devoe's Point on the eastern bank, in 1810.The original
Macombs dam and bridge opened to traffic in 1814.
Cost overruns and construction delays plagued the second
bridge, now renamed the "Central Bridge." The bridge finally
opened in 1861 at a cost of $50,000.The old bridge was
closed and The new Macombs Dam Bridge opened to traffic on
May 1, 1895 at a cost of $1.8 million. (6)
C) The Paulus Hook ferry company was
incorporated by the New York Legislature in March, 1814, as
the York and Jersey Steamboat Ferry Co. The first boat built
for the company was named the "Jersey," and was in service
for many years. The second built, and of the same model as
the "Jersey," was constructed in 1813, and named the "York."
It is said these boats were slow coaches that when they
passed close to one another in the river passengers on the
two boats could hold quite a lengthy conversation before
they got beyond talking distance. (37)
1 8 1 6
In 1816 a stage line was established to run
between 125th Street in Harlem and Park Row, leaving Harlem
early in the morning, with a return trip in the afternoon
fare 25 cents. (33)
1 8 2 0
In 1820 there were several lines of stages
from Bowery and Park Row to various sections of the city.
These stages held the monopoly of the city's "rapid transit"
business until the advent of the first horse-car line on
Fourth Avenue, running between Prince Street and Bowery and
Harlem River, in about 1832 (the population of Manhattan at
that time being about 220,000). This line did not meet with
public favor and was not successful, for it had to close
down in 1837 for want of patronage and did not resume the
horse-car traffic again until 1845, although there was an
intervening steam-car operation.(33)
Sources of
Information Utilized
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"New York City's Travel Experience Table of Contents
Next: Part II New York City's Travel
Experience 1822-1853
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